22 DOWN - 16,978 TO GO
We are in Indonesia, a country made up of 17,000 islands. Technically a cruisers paradise, moving from island to island with anchoring being the main method of staying overnight. So far our experience has been pretty good with the odd surprise and the occasional blip. We have already visited 22 islands. ....only 16,978 to go!
We arrived in Kupang on the island of Timor in November 2025 after dodging thousands of tiny fishing boats and nets on the way in.
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| There are a lot of people fishing. Stocks are becoming a concern |
We had employed an agent to help us check in and to refuel. Although we probably could have done it ourselves, it made life a lot easier after our four day crossing of the Timor Sea from Darwin. Liz Tenner you will be pleased to know that the boat stamp you got for us in Darwin was in huge demand by customs and immigration. 'Here a stamp, there a stamp, everywhere a stamp stamp!'
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Greg paying Matthew our agent in cash. You need a sack to carry this lot around
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It was a bit of a shock to experience such a different culture after our two years in New Zealand and Australia, which are much more comfortable and familiar for us Brits. But it was exciting, and reminded us of the other hectic, exotic and less developed economies we have enjoyed on our travels; always good fun and massive learning experiences.
One of the first things we needed to do was get to an Indonesian telecoms shop so we could get local SIM cards. We have unlimited contracts with Vodafone but of course they don't work in most of the world we are visiting, so we have to supplement.
We got a taxi which allowed us to observe the hectic environment we found ourselves in. The roads are packed with people on scooters, sometimes whole families on one small bike and people transporting half a house on the back, sticking out horizontally across the road. There seemed to be few rules or age limit on who could drive one, which would explain why some people seem to be driving on the wrong side of the road with gay abandon. We later found out when we plucked up courage to hire scooters on Lombok, that kids go to school on them and you don't need a licence or insurance it seems.
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| Greg getting some respite from the busy streets outside |
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| This kind of summed up Kupang - interesting but shabby |
Despite what seems to be an every man for themselves economy, where it's up to you to scratch a living the best way you can, people are absolutely lovely. We have met such kindness, generosity of spirit and always with a smile and a hello. Only in Bali have we felt pressurised to buy things, or felt that we were being taken advantage of.
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| Making a living is hard for most people here, but they are some of the cheeriest and kind people we have met on our travels |
For travellers like us, Indonesia is ridiculously cheap. The currency has a lot of 0000s on it, so we are forever trying to calculate. Anyway 50,000 rupees is about £2. We can eat out a restaurant meal for both of us with plenty of alcohol for about £12. Bit of a difference from Australia and explains why so many Australians are here on holiday.
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| Good wedding rates here Miranda!!!! |
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| There were many Christmas shops in Kupang which surprised us |
The people are very entrepreneurial. Stalls and shops are everywhere selling everything you need to live a simple life.
After a few days of reprovisioning, chilling and orienting ourselves, we set off adventuring to other islands. We have been struck by the sheer number of volcanoes here. Everywhere you look, there are volcanoes, which makes for spectacular scenery. It's best to occasionally look at the sea as you are going along though, rather than the volcanoes, because the sea is littered with fish farms. No wonder people don't sail at night.
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| Volcanoes everywhere |
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| And fish farms galore |
We had a delightful visit to Pular Besar, where we anchored There are many isolated villages in Indonesia, where people live a very simple life, using dug out canoes and living what is almost a subsistence way of life. Imagine the excitement of these children when three boats arrived on the same day! They paddled out furiously, bailing water frantically, to see whether we had any gifts. We had brought multiple pairs of flippers and snorkels from the Vinnie shops in Australia in different sizes. These were very popular as were pens, pencils and paper to write on. Interestingly the girls weren't allowed to come out to the boats, they were helping with cooking :(
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| Indonesian village in Pular Besar |
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| The children were delightful. Glad we took things for them. |
One fab day out involved going to visit the three different coloured crater lakes on East Nusa Island at Ende Woluara in the Kelimutu National Park. It was a bit of a long drive to get there but well worth it and we got to see life in the mountains. East Nusa people in particular build the graves/tombs of their loved ones on their front porch. They sit on them and remember them every day. I guess that works well in a culture where people aren't constantly moving house and are not afraid of the dead.
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| Perfectly normal to sit out on grandmas grave, chewing the fat |
From there we went to Komodo island which was a bucket list trip. Arriving early, we were the only boat mooring on the dock at Rinca; we more or less had the park to ourselves which was brilliant. Our guide was very informative and spoke excellent English. He had worked with David Attenborough and crew on their several visits to film here.
You can not visit without a guide and for good reason. He made sure we were safe and only went near to a dragon that had recently eaten. They are not aggressive when full. The Komodo dragons can eat a whole buffalo and there were numerous skulls littering the place and the tell tale white dragon poo from crunching through the bones!
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| The early bird gets the best spot on the dock |
Another fab stop was at Gili Lawa and Darat Island. We climbed to the top of the mountain and Greg got some great footage of Viridian down in the anchorage. As you can see it was just us. There is an excellent drift dive/snorkel there across the pass, which Greg did using the dinghy.
We met a rat when we stepped ashore at Laban Bajuo. Luckily we also met up with some lovely friends on catamaran Grateful that we haven't seen since we were in Bodrum over 6 years ago. It was great to catch up with Nicki and Jamie along with Mel and Brian on Go and Pete and Jay on Roam for dinner on the beach.
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There are lots of rats in Indonesia. Some like to climb on boats!
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| Reunion dinner |
As its the rainy season here we have been to some great waterfalls at Labuan Aji and recently near Ubud on Bali.
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| Great walks and waterfalls everywhere - well it is the rainy season |
Sadly along with the rainy season, I seem to get a terrible skin rash from the humidity and constant sweating. Luckily there are pharmacies and doctors everywhere who will see you immediately and prescribe medicines at a very reasonable price.
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| Itchy and weeping blisters. Horrible |
We had Viridian taken out of the water at Medana Marina on Lombok so she could have her bottom scrubbed and repainted with anti-foul. Sadly this meant we had to spend a few nights ashore. We can fully recommend Hotel Tugu if you want a luxurious and relaxing place to stay.
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| Imagine my delight when I saw the bath, its one of the things I miss most about boat life |
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| Bit bigger than our bed on Viridian! |
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| The spa is in an old temple. I had body scrub and full massage. 2 Hours! |
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| One of the swimming pools at Tugu next to the restaurant with the dragon on the roof |
We love Lombok, it is a peaceful island apart from the very loud and long call to prayer which starts at 04.15 and lasts for at least an hour. Hotel Tugu provides ear plugs, one of its many services!
We had a surprisingly interesting visit to the Lombok wildlife sanctuary. We are not generally keen on zoos, but this place was more of a rescue centre and the animals roamed freely. The birds and monkeys are free to leave because it is open to the skies, but they always come back, sometimes bringing their friends to a reliable source of food and caring staff.
We adored the bear cat who was working on reception, getting petted all the time. He did a great job of making sure everyone bought a bowl of fruit to feed his friends with in the sanctuary. Greg managed to stroke an iguana that seemed to enjoy it and you could interact with the orang-u-tangs and birds. All in all it was a very serene and lovely place.
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My favourite receptionist
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| This pygmy hippo was keen to show us her dental work |
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| Me thinks he's been petted before |
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| Greg not as sure about this one |
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| He knows how to get you to hand over your fruit basket |
So is there anything we haven't enjoyed so far in Indonesia? Well I think it's fair to say neither of us were that keen on Bali overall. It may have been because we had to anchor in a filthy river next to the municipal tip where the smell was overpowering and we were down wind. Also not helped by the rubbish and rats on shore. And it rained interminably when we were there, so we may not have had the best first impressions.
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| Our anchorage and dinghy dock |
Bali has some stunning scenery, history and culture. We particularly enjoyed Ubud, the visits to the temples, the dancing, the amazing shops and the waterfalls nearby. However the main tourist areas near the coast that we visited were very busy, dirty and seemed to be hassle full. Maybe if we were going clubbing or staying in a beach resort, our views would have been different, but from a sailing perspective Bali provides little in the way of safe anchorages, the water is too dirty to make water and the anchorages are miles from anywhere nice, so we only stayed a few days.
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| Lovely temples in Ubud |
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| Fabulous and intricate craftsmanship everywhere in Ubud |
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| Fab costumes at the traditional dance and play in Ubud |
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| Fascinating and ancient cultural history |
We did try a couple of the hotel and beach resorts. Potato Head is a beach resort that is trying to emphasise the importance of recycling. They have made most of the resort furniture out of waste and recycled products. It's certainly much needed in Bali and Indonesia generally.
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| Impressive entrance to Potato Head with the recycling story along the RHS |
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| Great roof making use of old flip flops |
We didn't buy any clothes in Bali despite me imagining that I would do loads of shopping. Almost unheard of!
Greg however did buy some Luwak coffee. I believe it passes through the digestive system of the Luwak and then is processed. It is some of the most expensive coffee in the world. Luckily I don't like coffee, so may be spared testing it.
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Coffee beans collected from the scat of the Luwak, then processed.
Apparently delicious. Greg will report back |
As always with this life of ours, we frequently and unexpectedly connect with people from the past, so it was a delight to discover that our old friend Barbara Drain from Warsaw in the late 1990s happened to be in Bali, and we met up for lunch at Warung Nia in the Flea Market. It was so exciting and we were so busy catching up that we forgot to take any photos. Sorry Barbara!
Anyway hope that's given you a flavour of our early impressions of Indonesia. There are many more islands awaiting us.
